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De Mistura’s successor to assume his duties on January 7

De Mistura said that he is not planning to give any recommendations to his successor, Geir Pedersen

© © CC BY 2.0/International Peace Institute

GENEVA, December 18. /TASS/. New UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will assume his duties in Geneva on January 7, 2019, current UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura informed after the meeting with Russian, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers in Geneva.

The diplomat added that he is not planning to give any recommendations to his successor or make any additional statements.

De Mistura bid a warm goodbye to reporters covering his briefing on the outcomes of the meeting, including the reporters from TASS. After the briefing, he shook hands with every reporter in the room.

Pedersen, born in Oslo in 1955, served as Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authority in 1998-2003. He also worked as Personal Representative of the UN Secretary General for Southern Lebanon and Director of the Asia and Pacific Division in the UN Department of Political Affairs.

On October 17, de Mistura said that he planned to step down as UN Special Envoy for Syria in late November, however, he resumed his duties until the end of the year.

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